Rock Star alter egos are growing in numbers "You're forming a fake band -- that's what you do," says Sadri, calling the game "the best part of karaoke, adding in a drummer and guitars."
The Magpie Developer Jeff Atwood is one of the best programmer/writers around. I love reading his stuff, some I agree wholeheartedly with, other stuff we disagree, but this post is about a dead-on as they come. This idea has been floating in my head for a long time, but it is hard for me to conceptualize it in words, Atwood does a brilliant job at it. Must read for any developer.
Andy Olmsted's Last Blog Entry. (Warning: Pretty rough) No matter how you feel politically about the war, this reminds you that each number people throw around as statistics is a human life. This is extremely well written, and pretty rough on your soul towards the end, but something everyone should read. Its a shitty situation all around, but there is always a human face behind the statistics and I want to make sure I never forget that.
To preserve his body during the voyage home, the second-in-command stored Nelson's body in the ship's vat of rum and halted all liquor rations to the crew. Not a bad idea, but when the ship reached port, officials went to retrieve Nelson's body and found the vat dry.
Disregarding good taste (in every sense), the crew had been secretly drinking from it the entire way home. After that, naval rum was referred to as Nelson's Blood.
making vodka pills in 24 hours Recently, Chef Fabian was experimenting further with the Adria/Torreblanca technique of making 'vodka pills.' I use this word to describe the process of making liquid-filled candies by pouring flavored alcohol syrups into cornstarch and letting it set until a hard outer shell forms.
Strategy Letter VI - joelonsoftware.com As a programmer, thanks to plummeting memory prices, and CPU speeds doubling every year, you had a choice. You could spend six months rewriting your inner loops in Assembler, or take six months off to play drums in a rock and roll band, and in either case, your program would run faster. Assembler programmers don’t have groupies.
Entire Article is Dead On. A must read for anyone in the software biz.
Leaving for a nice vacation to the UK today, taking pocketPC so hopefully can post some from on the road.
(I really looked hard for a shot from European Vacation with Chevy Chase getting directions from Eric Idle after he runs over him for the top of this post, but alas was hard to come by. Google Images only merely tempted me. But the pic above does Big Ben some justice.)
Ben Folds has always been one of my favorite artists. From what I understand Folds went the Univ of Miami with a drum scholarship, even though most people know him for his piano skills. From the precursor to this video, it looks like the drummers helping him just picked up random things around the studio. Sounds good too. This is why Youtube is the shiznit.
Backing up and restoring licenses
Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up your media usage rights (previously known as licenses). However, depending upon where your protected files came from, you might be able to restore your rights over the Internet.
Yesh. Come on Microsoft, that isnt going to work for average Joe that you hope will will purchase music via Windows Media Center (who in most cases doesnt even backup his music). So now, even if he DOES backup the music he purchased, he might not be able to restore his rights to play his song, he purchased? That won't work.
Cannot play back recorded TV that is protected with media usage rights in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 after 3 days
Recorded TV shows that are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this time.
Even Worse decision. So if I go on vacation for a week leaving on Sat and returning the following Sat and sit down to my new sparkling Vista system I can't watch Monday Night Football I recorded if they have this certain flag? That isn't going to fly with me either. I thought you guys wanted to make this whole collaboration with 'Microsoft in the Home' easier for all of us?
The Zune looked tempting, but if my HD crashes and I have to resort to my backup and I can't get a new licence for the music I have purchased then don't worry, I won't be buying one.
If I can't be guaranteed to be able to see the shows I Tivo (I don't care about burning them to dvd, or passing them around the net, I just want to WATCH them, you know like, the main reason for the DVR in the first place!) then forget using Vista for the Media Center. It renders it useless. I don't want a 3 day window.
Honestly, I love my x360 and I was really excited in brainstorming all the cool ways the Zune could be used in coordination with the x360 and xbl. I was also really pumped about when Vista ships being able to record shows on the computer then pumping them out to the x360 to watch on the TV. All that seems like a moot point if I have to watch them within 3 days of them being recorded before they are "magically" locked.
Lame.
I have 2 different music services I use. I use iTunes to get most of my music now. I don't like DRM but Apples DRM is no big deal to me. I burn a physical copy of each CD I buy and I have it to do whatever I want with it, it is just like I bought it a the store. No worries. If that ever disappeared I would drop iTunes like a rock.
I also use Urge. Urge is very different in that I never really "have" a copy of the music to burn, but I am ok with that. For $10 a month I can listen to a pretty wide array of music on my laptop (my laptop only) but I listen to it a lot at work, and I am ok with not being able to burn CDs. and I know when I cancel my account all the music is gone. No worries I understand that up front.
But with WMP 11 and the 3 day rule on the DVR, I won't be going for that. Thanks for hindering the move to IPTV.
So I came across this article today about the new particle accelerator going live next year at CERN in France, which if you read the article, is almost exactly how Howard The Duck's (and most First Person Shooter Computer Game's) storylines are started out:
If the theories are correct, the machine will create tiny black holes that evaporate and possibly even find particles that offer evidence that the three dimensions known to mankind are just a fraction of those that exist.
"That would be an even bigger headline than the black holes. It could be that there is a whole new universe a millimetre away from our heads but at right-angles to the three dimensions that are here," Dr Cox said.
Well Jeez, sounds promising. Lets be honest do we really think we can create mini blackholes (aka interdimensional rifts) without upsetting something on the otherside?
Wait it gets better:
* They estimate the possibility of accidentally destroying the planet as extremely low.
* The risk is calculated at about 10 to the minus 40 - a 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chance.
Where as less than 20 lines above it:
"For the first time in many decades we have built a machine that exceeds our powers of prediction.
"New processes are bound to be discovered. We are truly journeying into unknown territory."
If the entire world was compressed into the size of an "O" on a piece of paper from a small blackhole, do we really want France to be the center?
At their pre-TGS press briefing in Tokyo today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 will support 1080p content through a software upgrade. The "p" stands for parity.
Microsoft's announcement -- which effectively parries Sony's bold claims regarding the merits of 1080p high definition content or, as Sony calls it, True HD -- is their latest move seeking to blunt the impact of the oncoming Sony PS3 hype-train. With the True HD cat de-clawed, Microsoft's mantra of choice will appear even more appealing. It's another bullet point taken out of the next-gen console war equation.
An unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien has been edited by his son into a completed work and will be released next spring, the U.S. and British publishers announced Monday.
Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Hurin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before.
Nice. I wonder why it was abandoned though. esp if it was written in 1918. I am laughing out loud thinking of since it was an early work it might look like :
Your thief starts to move down the hallway, there is a door to your immediate left. You hear a sharp piercing scream ahead of you and to the right about 20 meters down the hall. You start to smell a slight sulfuric spell.
To Run down the hallway with sword drawn turn to page 231
To turn around and enter the door directly to your left turn to page 122
"Thursday nite saw the special VIP preview of Banksy's guerilla art installation "Barely Legal" in LA's downtown warehouse district. Highlights included a live pink elephant and a vandalized delivery truck INSIDE the gallery, a melted British phone booth & a display case featuring Banksy's newly "remixed" Paris Hilton CDs and a colony of live cockroaches. With almost all works priced in the $100K range, this seemingly gritty space was truly the realm of the art elite as actors, musicians, models & art world royalty vied for the "privilege" of purchasing Sir Banks' new creations. Afterwards, ultra-VIP revelers repaired to the luxe Roosevelt Hotel pool lounge for some all-nite action. To his credit, the B-boy was nowhere to be found. Was it the art show of the year or the greatest art heist of the 21st century? "
I have always liked Banksy's art (my favorite before I saw this post was the guy throwing the flowers, but I think I like the little kids playing catch with the TV better), but 100k? jeez. I hope they gave some to the elephant, he looked miserable. I tend agree with a comment by Ingrid Z down towards the bottom, "Banksy has capitalized on anti-capitalism. That is his greatest statement of all."
Wow. What a great Saturday of SEC football. I have to admit I expected a much closer game in Athens today. Last time UAB was in town we were at that game and it was hot as hell, and in all honestly UAB gave us hell. UGA eeked by with a 15-13 win, that was a very very close game (and if I remember correctly pretty much the closest of that year). So today I expected a decent game (better than what I expect of Colorado next weekend). The game was hot and we sweltered the entire time (I can't imagine the players and the band in their uniforms) but man we reeked on the car ride home. We went to the game with some long time friends who it was great to see again. After the game we went by some of my family's tailgating spots then hit up the edgemoor tailgating extravaganza to watch the Auburn LSU game. MAN what a football game, we got to watch the end of it on their TV (nice LCD digital tailgating TV, they do it right) and then we decided to hit the road to get home so we could watch the Fla/Tenn game before sleep. On the way home we stopped off and got some great Caesar chicken wraps from taco mac and caught the last 3 quarters of the UF/Tenn game. I didn't think anything would be better than the Aub/LSU game and I was wrong, Fla/tenn was just as good. I figured Fla would destroy Tenn just because of Tenn showing (or lack off) with Air Force inside Neland last weekend, but they were good competition to Fla. I thought they were going to win till halfway through the 4th quarter. With the LSU/Auburn game there was one play that I didn't agree with the call and which will go down in infamy in the series (and surely create ticket sales next year between the two teams) so it was a MIGHTY close game. The Fla/UT game was close also, but was pretty fairly called (from a a UGA fan perspective) so I don't know who I *should* be rooting for with regards to BCS, but I honestly expected UF to win (especially after Air Force last week Vs Tenn, and also I think Chris Leak is probably the best QB in the SEC right now), but man I hate the gators. Although beating Spurrier last week at SC, has made me hate them a lot less this season. i still think we are going to play a great game against Tenn/Fla. Auburn has me worried, but I don't think that LSU is the caliber (on Offense) that we are. It think our Def is just as good (if not better) than LSU, and if they gave them that much hell, we have a really really good chance of beating them.
P.S. Oh and even though this was a kick ass day of SEC football, the highlight for me, by far... was the UGA band playing Seven Nation Army during the 4th quarter of the game.
That Fuckin' Rocked.
P.P.S. Please send word to CBS stations: Most UGA fans don't like Vern Lunquist, I actually do think he is a good commentator, please keep him on. BUT PLEASE, PLEASE get rid of those stupid fucking video montages at halftime of all the SEC games of the day's highlights set to some song off an emo kids ipod. I would rather watch a commercial for Head On than watch some Tenn receiver catch some lucky ass pass set to some shitty and lame All American Rejects music. It's Lame. Don't Do It!
I also started season 2 of Deadwood. The first 2 episodes of season 2 are mindblowing. Almost as good as season 2 episode 1 of Lost (the best Lost episode ever).
Yeah, I am really looking forward to the start of UGA's season in a few weeks too. It feels kind of odd watching all these SEC teams playing big games and Georgia doesnt get to take the field until October. What kind of wacky scheduling is that?
(By the way, how does it feel inadvertently making the best argument about how overrated the SEC is with your story about the nobody school UAB giving the Dawgs such a tough game a few years ago that you actually thought this time around would be competitive and your comment about Air Force playing Tennessee at home just as tough as Florida?)
On a separate note I was thrilled by the outcomes of two games outside of the SEC last week. The icing on the cake so to speak in a great day of football was to see the death of the Miami hurricanes and the annual ass kicking of the always overrated Notre dame team. Before the Miami vs. Louisville game Miami came out and did their typical showboating. During pre game warm-ups they thought it would be a great idea to dance on the Cardinal in the middle of Louisville’s field as if to say “We are Miami bow down to us”. I guess someone forgot to tell Miami that Louisville is a pretty damn good team and that is probably not a good idea. The result was Louisville coming out and beating the once feared Miami like a drum. This loss was more than just a second notch in the loss column for Miami. This is a wakeup call for everyone who plays them. The days of Miami coming in and beating opponents by intimidation before they have even taken the field are over. This is much like Mike Tyson’s career Pre and Post Evander Holyfeild. Before the first Tyson vs. Holyfeild Fight, Tyson would have his opponents beaten psychologically before they even stepped in the ring. It took someone like Holyfield to say I am not afraid of you and punch the bully square in the nose. After that Tyson was exposed and the fear of fighting him was gone. That is what Louisville did to Miami this weekend. Miami was trying to bully them by dancing on their home field and Louisville took care of this bully just like Hollyfield took care of his. Buy punching Miami square in the nose in the tune of a 31-7 butt whipping and if you watched the game like I did you realize it was not even that close. I look at Miami now like I look at Mike Tyson, all bark and no bite. I suspect most of college football will look at them the same way now.
The second game has become an annual gift for me. What the Notre dame loss to Michigan does is gets all these reporters off Notre dame’s jock and exposes them for the truly flawed team they really are. If I have to watch another Game Day report on how Charlie Wies brushes his teeth in the morning or how Brady Quinn shits gold coins daily I was going to have an aneurysm. I have never seen a team that is so overrated ever year as Notre dame. If you were to look at this team with an unbiased eye it is obvious to see that they are not that good. Granted they have a great offensive minded head coach but they do not have the players primarily on defense to be a national championship contender. It blows my mind how every year they will when two or three games and everyone is ready to say the winner of the Notre dame vs. USC game will win the national championship. I also enjoy watching all those arrogant fans in south bend that are drinking this Kool Aid have their dreams crushed way before that game ever is played. The thing that drives me mad is mark my words if Notre dame can beat Michigan State this weekend and roll into the USC game with one loss the polls will have them back in the top five before you know it. Probably over several no loss teams. Why you ask? Because of no other reason other than they are Notre dame. The reason for this is Notre dame is the only school outside of schools in a BCS conference that can attain an automatic BCS bid if they are in the top six. No other school has a sweeter deal than they do. They can get a spot in a BCS bowl even though they do not deserve to be there because of who they are (last years Fiesta Bowl is a great example). So I say pray that Michigan State takes care of business this weekend. Then I am confident USC will beat them by 20. If they have three or more losses there is no way the will be ranked in the top six. The name Notre dame cannot even do that!
Tosh said it. I am amazed at how Notre Dame, FSU, and Michigan can get spanked, win a couple of meaningless games, and get right back into the top 10. It happens every year.
I wasn't arguing that the SEC is not the best conference around. I think it clearly is (especially with how bad the ACC is this year), but not because their teams are so much better than everyone else. It is just because they have more quality teams than other conferences. The best teams from other conferences would still be the best teams in the SEC; Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma, etc. I think SEC fans sometimes forget that. And then Air Force plays Tennessee to a one point game in Tenn. And Dawg fans get worked up about playing Colorado and UAB. Etc. It's like they don't even beleive their own delusion, which is really sad when you think about it.
I think Auburn, LSU, UF, or Ga all have would have a good chance of beating OSU. I think it would be in OSU's favor, but it would be a game where any of those teams could win on the right day. Oklahoma/TX would be a 50/50. I think you underestimate the SEC.
I can't tell if you do because you you really believe OSU is really that much better, or you just want to believe the Big 10 is superior for arguments sake. The Big 10 is pretty spotty after you get outside Michigan. Iowa and Purdue on good years are decent. I would say if any conference is actually a better conference that the SEC is would be the ACC (some years) and the 12 (most years). But in regards to this specific season I think you are wrong, the SEC is far far better both in the amount of "good" teams and the conference as a whole. It seems like you have this same tired argument every year MC, some years i think you are right, and others (like this one) I think you are wrong. I will agree to disagree in regards to this season, but next season I might not.
Eric, Again you misunderstand me. I am not saying that other conferences have superior teams. I am saying that the best teams from other conferences are as good as the best teams in the SEC, the SEC just has a slightly higher concentration of them. Every year most leagues have 2-4 elite teams and the SEC has 3-6.
SEC fans seem to think that all the other teams in the country are high school teams.
I agree with that then for this season 3-6 as opposed to 2-4. I do think that people (myself included) underestimate some teams sometimes, but everytime I start to think I have UGA pulls out a 34/0 shutout. So, i guess it depends on the team and how much people give them crap. I would still worry about any 10/12 team coming into Athens (except Colarado this weekend, mwhahaha)
* $250 (pro/con?)
* Sports Game Included
* Remote with Nunchuk
Virtual Console Games available at launch:
* 30 NES Games / 30 Turbo Graphix 16 / 30 SuperNes
* titles around $5/$10
Interesting 'Channels' Available:
* Weather/News/Shopping
* Also a Web Channel (Opera browser)
*Wifi Built in (woot)
* Doesnt sound like an online portion that has to be paid for monthly (might not be ways to play other people though either not sure pros/cons yet)
Cons:
* I am bummed that I will have to pay an extra $60 that the wife (who totally owns at Zuma) for another controller at launch.
1. Bonk's Adventure
2. Castlevania
3. Duck Hunt
4. Excitebike
5. F-Zero
6. Kid Icarus
7. Legend of Zelda, The
8. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
9. Mario Kart 64
10. Metroid
11. Mortal Kombat
12. New Adventure Island
13. Ninja Gaiden
14. OutRun
15. Pac-Man
16. Prince of Persia
17. Punch-Out!!
18. R-Type
19. Rayman 2
20. Sonic the Hedgehog
21. Star Fox
22. Super Mario 64
23. Super Mario Bros
24. Super Mario Kart
25. Super Mario World
26. Tecmo Bowl
Brainstorm it:
#25 = Duane buys WII. Well, I was gonna get it anyway, especially after seeing video of the new mario galaxy. I CAN'T WAIT!
Agreed...this will be my first video game console purchase since PS2. That list alone is enough to keep me busy for years. I am stoked about this one...
"Not to my surprise, both men answered that they did, in fact, support-teaching creationism in our public schools. Personally, I have no problem telling you all that I was sorely disappointed.
Awesome column by my brother in his college newspaper. Great read.
The new product: a box to connect to your TV to play all these iTunes Movies and iTunes TV shows on it.
This box supports wireless—no stringing cables—and is the missing piece.
iTV looks like a small Mac Mini. It's just an internal codename, and will be renamed later.
There's a power supply inside, USB, 802.11 wireless, Ethernet, HDMI, component, stereo audio, and optical audio out to your TV.
Whatever setup you've got, you can hook up to this iTV box. It can go out to your TV, stereo, whatever.
Steve's holdiing one. It's wider than a Mac Mini, but flatter.
iTV looks faster than Front Row. Looks similar to Front Row—has movie covers, TV covers.
When you're browsing your movies, it gives you the synopsis of the movie, stars, and the cover.
Can anyone please tell me why the hell I would want to watch a movie in 640x480 on my High Def TV?!?
I bought the TV for the picture quality, not to watch a shitty movie resolution designed for my ipod. AND I have to buy the device to verify the DRM?
Ha. Riiiiiiiight.
I love my ipod, but this is off the deep end. I really hope a lot of people don't go for this. I certainly don't see this as a step forward for anyone.
Update:I was just IM'ing with someone and they were saying that HDMi can sometimes upconvert 720i or 1080i (I guess at same resolution?? anyone know?). I am not well versed on the resolution upconversions, but normal NTSC is 720x480 so 640x480 doesn't sound like to much of a hit, but when I look at SVCD (usually 520*480) it annoys me (although I can still usually watch it). I still stand by my first assertion that this won't look good, but I guess the resolution won't play as big of a factor in how crappy this device sounds. I am eager to see what the downloads look like honestly, I can say that there is no way in hell regardless that I would be buying something like this and locking myself into their video drm. I am extremely happy with going and picking up the DVD myself for DVD quality picture. I am not a fan of watching stuff on my ipod (I have a few movies on there right now), but if i traveled a bunch I could see how it would be nice to have movies on the ipod. Still i don't see how this product is viable to anyone, unless you just really wanted one (and we don't even know if it upconverts yet).
This is definately legit. I've been following this since the end of last season. The producers of Lost are the ones behind it so it's about as real as it gets. We'll see if it has any bearing in the series or not.
Move over Jack Bauer, Seth Bullock has taken your place.
So I like to keep mini-lists inisde my head of my favorite things. Every now and then I will put them up on this blog, some are pretty redundant that I do every year (Top albums of 2005, 2004, Top most underrated albums, etc). So one thing I also like to keep up with is top TV shows. I just had a change in rankings for the top 3 TV shows of all time, that i thought I would mentioned so that everyone who reads can check out if they want to.
The top 5 TV shows ever made as ranked in my mind at this moment, are (and in order):
(Please note that Band of Brothers would top this list, but i consider that an 8 hour movie/miniseries and not a continuous TV Show which happens through multiple seasons)
Although I never published this list before, this weekend Deadwood has come in at #3 (and bumped off 24 out of the top 3) and (in my best Casey Casem voice) "definitely has some staying power").
I just finished Season 1, and man I have to say that if there was ever any television show that I would love to be an actor on, Deadwood would be it. I just got done watching all the bonus disk of season 2 of Lost's DVD set which has bloopers and jokes with all the actors messing around with each other and having fun in Hawaii, and I admit, living in Hawaii and filming a great show like Lost would be amazing, but the character development inside Deadwood is just as good as lost if not better. I also enjoy the fact that with both the two shows there is a HUGE extra character that takes shape as the environment. With Lost of course you have the island, and with Deadwood you not only have the town, but the outside area around it that is always stirring up trouble, whether it be injuns or the US Govt (which I get the feeling are loathed just the same by the folks at the Deadwood camp).
This is a Superb show, and if you like the character development of Lost (which isn't hokie or soap opera character development) then check this show's season 1 and 2. The characters are deeply defined and you really could not ask for better scenes with random characters who make emotional connections regardless of the fact it is literally hell outside (and to a point inside) the camp/town (for those that have seen the 1st season in it's entirety, think of Doc and Jewel dancing at the end) It is an extremely gritty and realistic show, so if you don't like murder, drugs, whores, insanely funny and intricate scripts for people (think Barnum) and the like, the show probably isn't for you, but man ohh man are those great variables in a good story. Good Stuff.
Update (9/11 12:05 am) : I altered this post a little to account for some grammatical errors and abhorrent spelling. I will readily admit that I wrote it at 3 am on Sunday morning after a healthy dose of Rum and Coke off a UGA football win. After the game I settled in to finish out the Deadwood season 1 DVD set and this post was the product of it (and a few more rum and cokes). Some people have already commented on the post (not the grammar) so in case anyone reads it and it sounds a bit different I edited and retitled it. I also added a bunch of wiki links for the shows.
Brainstorm it:
Great post. My wife and I have gotten completely hooked on Deadwood this summer. I'd always avoided it b/c I'm not so much a fan of westerns but this show transcends that label. It's just an awesome, very dark, and I imagine very realistic drama. Definitely worth the watch.
I won't drone on about The Sopranos -- everyone who cares knows it's an excellent show. I would, however, strongly encourage you to check out the first season of The Wire if you've never seen it. It is every bit as rewarding as Deadwood. The cast is large and amazing, the characters are sharply drawn, the stories are complex and original. The creators really know their stuff: they've built an entire dark, rich, believable world.
I'll second that nomination, E. I got hooked on westerns with Clint Eastwood's old spaghetti western series. Deadwood is just spectacular. I've followed every show through season three and it only gets better. Just wait till Mr. Hearst joins the party.
I am a fan. I order tons of stuff from you guys, so much that I even have an Amazon Prime membership (it actually has saved me on S&H, that is how much I spend with you guys). So when I heard a few months ago about what was to be Amazon Unboxed I was actually pretty pumped. Then I saw your prices:
Amazon Unboxed: V for Vendetta $10 Pros: Don't have to get off my ass to go get
Cons: DRM'd, can only watch on my computer, Semi-Ownership (nothing tangible)
Netflix: V for Vendetta ~$5 (we get around 3 or 4 movies a month and we pay $21 a month)
Pros & Cons: Don't have to get off my ass, but takes a few days, and we have the FIFO Queue System (ie we have to watch something to return something, and who likes sending back a movie you haven't watched). No Ownership
Blockbuster: V For Vendetta ~$7 Pros: Can get today (barring they are sold out)
Cons: Physically have to go get, might have to go to multiple stores if not at store. Have to have back in X number of days. No Ownership.
Fry's or Bestbuy: ~$22 Pros: We own it, can go get today (still have to drive), watch it again in a year and is on hand. Can let friends borrow.
Cons: Have to stand in those shitty ass lines, costs more. Will inevitably purchase the normal resoluton when I want widescreen.
Basically in looking at this I think Amz needs to drop their price point down to the blockbuster range. The DRM isn't helping, it is forced viewable on the computer. I just don't get it. It is kinda like Apple with the TV shows on itunes. I understand people WILL buy them for that price, but honestly, to view in that small of a medium (LCD Vs TV) probably at a lower resolution shouldn't cost that much. I won't be using unboxed unless good movies start to come down into the $5 range. I have a feeling it isn't Amazon pricing them at $10, but still the service is worthless to me at that price for movies upon first glance. The price just is not worth it. I still need to investigate the other things it offers (tv, music videos).
It doesn't matter if the price point drops to a dollar, the majority of people simply do not want to watch television and movies on a monitor in their office room at home.
One of the reasons that SVCD and Divx are popular, at least within the pirate community, is that these mediums can be played on specific DVD players. These DRM encumbered formats do not play on my HDTV television.
So no thanks, I'll stick with NetFlix. And when I miss a TV show or two, I'll grab them off of alt.binaries.tv-shows in high-quality Divx format with no ads.
We just got handed a scoop for some important news with one of the next-generation consoles. We can't talk about any specifics yet, but you have our word that this announcement is something worth waiting for.
Expect all the info tonight here at Joystiq at 12:01 a.m. Eastern.
Me and the wife left the game and walked to Little Italy around 3 Qtr and we walked by this "Family Friendly" area around north Campus and joked about how their was absolutely no one there. This video catches the mood perfectly. I actually don't neccisarily think it is a bad idea, but I didn't think it would get utilized. I am sure there are many people who would love to come to the game but don't want to because of the rowdiness factor. Although, imho, inside the game is just as rowdy. i think that when kids see a drunk guy peeing into the woods (5 feet from a porta-potty), or the sorority chick in her nice dress stumbling around in her high heels and stupid looking oversized bug eye sunglasses because she has already had one to many (at 10 am) it is almost a sort of morbid initiation into UGA football tailgating. Kinda like having your car double parked, or some fratacular guys overthrowing a football and hitting your car. Expect it to happen, because if you go to a number of games, it inevitably will. Not saying it isn't lame, but it isn't going to change.
Looks like it is a nice way to keep people off certain areas of campus though ;)
Brainstorm it:
Yet another brilliant idea by Adams and the university planning comission. I've never understood why they insist on fixing something that wasn't broken. Richie told me that people are tailgaiting on the freaking on ramp of college station! Thanks a lot UGA.
Man, really upsetting. Me and the wife and discovery/animal planet nuts. I think to a point this man's popularity inspired many shows and a revival in nature shows. On Croc Hunter Diaries he would always mention that the scariest part about working with some animals is that they are so unpredictable. It is extremely unfortunate this happened. I learned a lot from Steve Irwin, and enjoyed seeing his kids grow up on television.
RIP Croc Hunter.... With that being said I have to bring up the point that he was probably doing something he shouldn't have. It is extremely difficult to get a stingray barb in the chest. Usually people get them in the lower leg when they happen to step on them. And then it's only because the rays bury themselves in the sand. I am almost 100% certain that the only way to get one in the chest is to attempt to ride one. Steve Irwin was a great environmentalist and naturalist. He was a driving force in creating interest in nature and it's preservation. But he was on many occasions reckless. If nothing else this should serve as warning that no matter how much you know about nature, if you screw with it it will eventually bite you in the ass. The guy that spent summers with grizzly bears comes to mind. Everyone was surprised when he got eaten. There's a reason they call them wild animals.....
Travis - The Boy With No Name Travis is back. I wouldn't say I hated 12 memories, it was meant to be very political, I just thought it went a little overboard and was somewhat preachy. Then when the greatest hits CD came out to be honest I was really hoping it didn't mean the end to one of my favorite brit bands. Boy With No Name is everything they were capable of. Supurb CD all the way through. Every song is brilliant. Big Chair is probably my favorite song and the opening to the CD on 3 Times is as good as it gets in music imho.
Pop! Why Bubbles are Great For The Economys (Gross) One of the better economic books I have read in while, where the author gets their premise across in a well written, clear and concise manner. Basically Gross believes that the infrastructure left over after economic bubbles, provides companies with the ability to move forward (maybe more than the original bubble did). Not a hard read, I would definitely suggest it for a day and the beach/lake.
Feist - The Reminder I CANNOT GET "I feel it all" OUT OF MY HEAD. Period. Great album, angelic voice.
Catan - Xbox Live Arcade I am hopelessly addicted to this board-turned-video game on the xbox360. I had never played the board game but had seen it being played in some comic shops growing up. Click the Pick and play the demo, it isn't the 360 interface, but same game.
Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worse Nightmare No Sophomore slump here. Just as good (if not better) than Whatever they Say.
Beautiful Evidence (Tufte) Tufte reads like a text book, most people would say bleh, but the information about "information" that he can deliver is top notch. My first Tufte book was "A Visual Display To Quantitative Information" and it was extremely well done, albeit confusing at time. I think beautiful Evidence is a little easier of a read (I am still only half way through it) and a little easier for myself to understand the ideas he is presenting..
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather Fountains of Wayne are the Gods of pop music. If Welcome Interstate Managers was a collection of short stories in song form, then Traffic and Weather is an even better collection with more humor. I already feel like CNN has the hottest female anchors, imagining them throwing their lust around like the Title track to the CD makes it even better.
Game of Thrones (Martin) I started this book assuming it was going to be a high fantasy novel. Elfs, Dragons, Magic and the like. It isn't. It IS fantasy but more surrounding the politics and cunning of a few high ranking families. Incest, Murder, Intrigue, unscrupulous midgets. It has it all and more.
